FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Basweti Claims 2nd Straight SunTrust Richmond Marathon Title;
First-Time Marathon Runner Takes Women's Title
Record-size field of 15,723 highlights 32nd running of event
Richmond, VA - Jynocel Basweti, 22, of Kenya took first place at the 2009
SunTrust Richmond Marathon for the second consecutive year with a time of
2:18:28, beating his 2008 finish time by four minutes. Also, twenty-nine
year old Salome Kogsei surprised spectators with her first-place finish in
the female division with a time of 2:40:51. The SunTrust Richmond Marathon
was Kogsei's first full marathon, which she decided to enter at the last
minute.
In the second year of the McDonald's Half Marathon, two new course records
were set. Nicholas Kurgat, 30, of Kenya won the men's division in 1:06:02.
Ethiopian Alemtsehay Misganaw, 29, claimed first place for the second year
in a row in the women's division, finishing in 1:16:34, a two minute
improvement from last year's time.
Elkanah Kibet, 23, of Kenya won the men's division of the HCA Virginia 8k
(22:47), while Teyba Naser, 23, of Ethiopia won the women's division
(26:31).
An all-time record of 15,723 runners participated in this weekend's events.
The 26.2-mile SunTrust Richmond Marathon and the 13.1-mile McDonald's Half
Marathon both drew a record-breaking number of entries - 5,188 and 5,572
respectively. The HCA Virginia 8k had a total of 4,564 runners, and the
Richmond Times-Dispatch Kid's Run on Friday evening drew in 399
participants.
Among the SunTrust Richmond Marathon registrants were over 200 participants
in the first-ever Runner's World Marathon Challenge. The Marathon Challenge
is an exclusive 16-week training plan created by Runner's World's Chief
Running Officer Bart Yasso. All 14 of the magazine's editors also ran in
today's marathon.
On top of an all-time high number of participants, spectators also crowded
the streets cheering and handing out water and snacks to the runners. "The
atmosphere is great. The bands and people cheering along the way really do
make a difference," said McDonald's Half Marathon participant Trish Tait of
Fredericksburg, Va.
Good friends Bob Curtin, Jr., Hampton, Va., and Gladys Sopko, Williamsburg,
Va., also participated in the McDonald's Half Marathon. Sopko, a first-time
participant running in honor of her two granddaughters, said, "I loved it!
I would rate it a 10."
"We danced at all the music stops. We got a workout just dancing," said
Curtin.
The 2010 SunTrust Richmond Marathon is scheduled for Saturday, November
13th. Registration information can be found at www.richmondmarathon.org.
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